Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2010-09-07-Speech-2-343"
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"en.20100907.28.2-343"2
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"Mr President, let me start by thanking my co-Commissioners, László Andor and Cecilia Malmström, because there has been very close cooperation between our teams on the Roma issue in recent last weeks. This allowed the Commission to reach a clear and balanced position on the matter over the summer, and this has received the full backing of the college of Commissioners today.
That is why it was so important that Minister Éric Besson came to a meeting in Brussels with Cecilia Malmström and myself last week. He assured us publicly that the French authorities would treat all citizens in the same way, that there was no targeted action against the Roma or any other group, and that the French authorities would do their best to act scrupulously in line with EU law. I see this assurance given by a French Minister as a very positive development.
In the meantime, the Commission’s services – DG Justice and the Legal Service – have continued to check at a technical level with the French authorities since last Friday to see if what has been said reflects the legal reality on the ground.
The Commission services have identified a number of issues where the French authorities will need to give supplementary information, and where they will need active assistance by the Commission services to ensure that their action now, and in the future, is fully in line with EU law.
Since 2008, the Commission has insisted to France that the EU Free Movement Directive must be fully implemented, including the procedural and substantive safeguards in that directive which had not been fully implemented in French legislation.
Even though these safeguards are partly a reality in France because of the case-law which the courts use – and you have seen lately that the courts have decided on the basis of the EU directive although this EU directive has not been implemented in French law – we have been very clear with the French authorities in saying that legislative implementation will enhance legal certainty in free movement situations similar to the ones experienced this summer.
That is why, after the meeting of the college today, I sent a letter to the French authorities insisting on those aspects. It goes without saying that other Member States which are in a similar situation will also get similar assistance.
An important lesson to draw from the developments of this summer is that Roma integration is a challenge that must be kept on the political agenda of all Member States. That is why, with Cecilia Malmström and László Andor, I have agreed on five actions, which the college of Commissioners has just approved.
Firstly, in order ensure the conformity of all Member State measures taken regarding the Roma with EU law on free movement, non-discrimination and the Charter of Fundamental Rights, we will monitor and assess the progress made on these questions.
Secondly, we will establish a Roma task force at senior level which will analyse the follow-up given by Member States to the Commission’s strategic Roma communication of 7 April. This will, in particular, streamline, assess and benchmark the use and effectiveness of EU funding for Roma integration in all Member States and identify underpinning deficiencies in the use of those funds. We are we doing this simply because we want to know and to have proof of instances where these funds are (a) not being used and (b) if they are being used, are not being properly implemented.
The first findings of this task force will be submitted to the college before the end of the year, and I will keep Parliament and the Council informed on these findings.
I would also like to thank President Barroso, with whom I have been working closely on this matter over the summer, in parallel with the evolving situation in France. It was in full agreement with the President that, on 25 August, I took a public position on the situation of the Roma in France and on the need to uphold European law and the rights and the principles laid down in the Charter of Fundamental Rights.
Thirdly, I am calling on the Presidency to hold a jumbo JHA, Security and Social Affairs Council as soon as possible in order to identify a more targeted use of national and complementary EU funding to promote social and economic integration of the Roma. That Council meeting should be followed by yearly meetings at ministerial level because we have had cold experience of Member States not taking responsibility for changing things on their territory for themselves. We have to bring them together, officially and publicly, and we have to push them in the right direction.
Fourthly, I will call on future presidencies of the Council to address the priorities identified in the roadmap agreed last June by the European Platform on Roma Inclusion. In that context, dialogue with representatives of the Roma community should be intensified. The next platform will take place under the Hungarian Presidency.
Fifthly, we will also call on the Member States to look into the issue of human trafficking, to which Roma are particularly vulnerable, with the assistance of the Commission and, if necessary, with Europol and Eurojust where appropriate.
I will now pass the floor to László Andor to speak on the important subject of the use of the European Social Fund for Roma integration.
The line taken by the Commission – which, as politicians, you know perfectly well must always be aware of the dangers of being instrumentalised by national party political debates – has been consistent over the past weeks.
Firstly, Member States are in charge of public order and of the safety of their citizens on their national territory. This means that, in spite of the important right of free movement, Member States have to take measures against EU citizens who break the law. There can be no impunity under the umbrella of European free movement principles. Under certain conditions, Member States can even send EU citizens who have broken the law back home, provided that they observe the principles of proportionality and the procedural safeguards which are written into the EU Free Movement Directive of 2004.
Secondly, in our European Union, no citizen must become the target of repressive action just for belonging to an ethnic minority or to a certain nationality. This is clearly set out in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of nationality or ethnic origin and which specifically prohibits collective expulsions. So there must be no collective punishment in Europe and no stigmatisation of any ethnic group. Every human being has their own rights and also their own obligations.
Thirdly, the social and economic integration of the Roma – and you all know that, with 10 to 12 million members, this is the biggest ethnic minority in Europe – is a challenge for all 27 Member States, both for the countries of origin and for Roma host countries. Under the subsidiarity rule, it is the responsibility of Member States to ensure access to housing, education, health and employment but, at the same time, the EU institutions – for more than a decade now – have developed strategies and policies to support national efforts financially, notably via the European Social Fund, the pre-accession instrument, and the European Regional Development Fund, which has recently been modified so that housing for Roma can be covered by the fund.
It is very important to stress that, for the Commission, the social and economic integration of the Roma is not an issue just for the month of August. It is an issue for every day and for every year. Commissioner Andor and I presented earlier this year, on 7 April, a strategic Roma communication – the first ever in the European Union. On the basis of that, we had a ministerial meeting in Córdoba, together with the Roma associations. As President Barroso said this morning, there were only three Ministers present at that meeting.
The main legal and political issues raised by the measures taken by France this summer have been well summarised in a detailed note which Commissioner Andor, Commissioner Malmström and I presented to the college of Commissioners last week and which was endorsed today.
Allow me to update you on where we stand today. First of all, thanks to a very intense dialogue between the Commission and the French authorities over the past weeks, I see an important development. I viewed it as crucial that it was made clear in France that there was no intention to target actions against the Roma community, because such targeted action would have been incompatible with the fundamental values and rights on which the European Union is founded."@en1
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